…and Other Unlikely Places

Failing—Learning—Succeeding

“I attempted to write my first novel when I was twenty-four. Bagger Vance[my first published book] came out when I was fifty-one.

“Twenty-seven years is a long time to labor without success. Can you imagine how many times I was taken aside by spouse, lovers, family, and friends and given ‘the talk?’ Can you imagine how many times I gave it to myself?”
Steve Pressfield (The Legend of Bagger Vance)My Overnight Success

There’s no guarantee that if you plug way at writing for basically three decades that you’ll eventually not only become a published author, but also see your first published book turned into a movie starring Will Smith, Matt Damon, Chalize Theron and directed by Robert Redford—but it’s nice to point out when it happens.

In his post Pressfield expands on his “nearly three-decade odyssey” by offering some nuggets like:1. It’s hard.2. You gotta be a little crazy.3. It’s worth it.

But he also says that it wasn’t all wilderness;

“Within those twenty-seven years, I earned a living for at least a dozen as a professional writer. I worked in advertising. I had a career as a screenwriter. And I spent six years writing unpublishable novels (which counts as work too.)

“In other words the process, although it had many crazy and desperate years, was simply one of relentless, diligent labor and self-education. I was failing. But I was learning. By the time, twenty-seven years in, when I sat down to write The Legend of Bagger Vance, I was a seasoned pro who understood the principles of storytelling, who possessed abundant self-discipline, and who had had enough success in related fields to tackle this particular enterprise with confidence.”Steve Pressfield

Not sure how I stumbled on your blog, but so thrilled I did! Being a screenwriter in the Midwest is much like being a swimmer in the Sahara…It’s very validating knowing that I’m not the only one spending hours at a computer, staring out my office window at a blanket of white as the wind howls is 30-below reminder that I am, indeed, a screenwriter in the Midwest. It may be politically incorrect to share this, but I’m praying for you as you battle cancer. Unfortunately, I lost one of my best friends to leukemia…I was her “Thursday girl”…every week, that was the day I either visited her in the hospital or took her to outpatient chemo and check-ups. Even in the midst of facing mortality, she found humor and hope. What a gift. – Wisconsin Mary

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100 percent of the screenwriters who now have agents at one time didn’t have an agent. 100 percent of screenwriters who are now working at one time weren’t working. 100 percent of the screenwriters who have made money at screenwriting at one time time didn’t made a dime.” Michael Hauge Writing Screenplays that Sells page […]